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Bering Strait Tunnel (Dane)
The Bering Straight Tunnel '''is a 205-mile, 60 meter deep tunnel connecting Providenya, Russia to a point west of Nome, Alaska. The project was explored for several decades with talks involving the United States, Russia, and China. Talks 2025 Initially, the plan called for a high speed rail line from Beijing, China to Seattle, Washington that would cross through the Bering Straight. These talks began sometime in 2025 between American President (at the time) Bernie Sanders, Russian Leaders Vladimir Putin and Dmitry Medvedev, and Chinese President Xi Jinping. The initial plan called for a several bridges at the nearest points, from Naukan, Russia to Wales, Alaska through the Diomede Islands, a total of four bridges spanning close to 60 miles. However, this plan was eventually found to be structurally unsafe for the area, with the bridges facing challenges from ice chunks flowing down the straight and future models on shipping routes found that drawbridges would likely be needed to ensure the flow of large trading vessels through the straight. Eventually, Russia and the United States came to oppose this plan, and it, along with the talks, were scrapped for the time being. 2029 Nearly five years later, the talks resumed, under President Kamala Harris. The three looked at an alternative plan involving a train line crossing the straight, again through the Diomedes. This was found to be a problem, as the nearest US Railroad, the Alaska Railroad, ended in Fairbanks and would require an additional 600 miles of railway. This was also the least of the problems, as the plan involved a bridge as well, which had similar problem to 2025's version, in addition to another 3,000 miles of railway from the Siberian Railway in Vladivostok. The recession of 2030 ultimately caused this plan to be scrapped due to economic struggles and issues with the bridge and location. 2036 With the economy now in a much better state, China and Russia began exploring this idea again, and were eventually discussing with US President Steve Watkins. This plan resulted in a near-deal. The plan was to build two separate highways, a 1,300 mile highway from Magadan, Russia to Naukan, which would be named after Russian President Vladimir Putin, in addition to another nearly 700 mile highway in Alaska from Fairbanks to Wales. There would also be two 25 mile tunnels to each Diomede Island, which would have border checkpoints, and a bridge between the two islands roughly 3 miles long. The tunnels were viewed as cheap and acceptable, but the bridge faced structural problems, and Russia objected to the use of Big Diomede Island due to it being a Russian Military Base. Eventually, the plans were scrapped. 2043 Eventually, the leaders met again. This time, a plan was proposed to connect the US and Russia by road, this time using an alternate route through the Bering Straight, connecting the two major ports of Nome and Provideniya through a much longer, 205 mile long tunnel. The tunnel was found to be cheap and effective, and was thus agreed to between the group of three leaders. They began to sort out other details. A 700-mile long parkway would be constructed across Alaska, from Fairbanks to a point 30 miles west of Nome. Russia, meanwhile, would build a 1,250 mile long highway from Magadan to Provideniya, where it would connect to the tunnel. China and Russia agreed to work together on improving infrastructure along the China/Russia border, additionally, to make the trip quicker. The Route Alaska Wing The Alaska wing of the route was intended to connect Alaska's main road networks in the eastern half of the state to the tunnel connecting the two countries. For this purpose, the United States proposed the '''Yukon Turnpike, a 600-mile turnpike from AK-3 in College, Alaska to the tunnel west of Nome. The name Yukon was chosen because of its close parallel to the Yukon river for close to half the route across Western Alaska. In an attempt to make travel quicker, the Turnpike was made a Speed Limit of 90 mph, making it the fastest road in the world. It was surprisingly straight for a road in Alaska. Ultimately, it cost several billion dollars and was constructed over a 15 year span from 2045 to 2060. The road is primarily used by semi trucks and passionate tourists wanting to drive at fast speed. Ultimately, the route made the drive time between Fairbanks and Nome just under four hours long. Tunnel the Tunnel, called the Dmitry Medvedev Tunnel '''for the Russians and the '''Ethan Berkowitz Memorial Tunnel '''for the Americans, spans a total of 205 miles, crossing the Bering Strait between Alaska and Russia. The tunnel is 60 meters below sea level, 5 meters under the strait itself. The tunnel is 17.5 tall and fits four, 10 feet wide lanes. Russia Wing The Russian wing of the project included the '''Magadan Freeway, a 1,250 mile freeway from Magadan, Russia to the Dmitry Medvedev Tunnel at Provideniya, Russia. It was named Magadan due to the starting point of the freeway being in Magadan. Russia's section of the highway has a speed limit of 120 km/h. It also cost tens of billions of dollars and had a total drive time around 14 hours, and was constructed from 2045 to 2065. In addition to the Magadan Freeway, Russia and China also worked on additional infrastructure projects in Eastern Russia to create better access to the Magadan Freeway from China and Southeast Asia. Ivittisik '''Ivittisik '''is a city established in Alaska, 30 miles west of Nome and at the entry point of the tunnel into the United States. It contains one of two geothermal power plants (the other being in Provideniya) that power the lighting in the tunnel and nearby towns. It also contains gas stations, hotels, and other amenities for travelers of the highway. The city quickly boomed and reached a population of nearly 10,000 people within one decade of the completion of the connection. Provideniya also boomed to a similar size.